Holiday Hunt

Why does this keep happening to me? Last year, I had to accost a stock lady to get my Holiday Teas who graciously did not report the crazy lady in aisle 9 until after I left with my precious boxes giddily in hand. This year... it was the butcher.

That's right. Well, technically it was the meat department stock boy. And his manager. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So our hunt started out at the usual superstores. None of them had the Holiday Teas in the tea section! Go figure. One store offered an end cap display hanging at the end of the... get this... baking aisle? Ok. Maybe people like to drink tea while they are baking. Apparently so because the display was completely empty save all the Sugar Plum Spice you wanted which definitely wasn't (that's why we had enough to dye eggs last March). The other superstore also had none in their tea aisle but did say that it was on the schedule to reorganize that section this week so maybe it was coming. Yeah. That's helps me now!

So then, on the way to the library, we pulled into a regular grocery store, the same chain that my friend Liz purchased all the Holiday Tea she wanted from just this past weekend. We checked the tea aisle first, although I'm not sure why, and weren't surprised to find no space for Holiday Tea. So we
accostedapproached the first store employee we could find. A nice young man stocking the meat department... who had only been working there 2 days. As nice as he was, he had no idea what I was talking about, but he did offer to go get his manager who listened attentively as I relayed our adventures and then offered to page a grocery manager to assist me in my quest since he was only in the meat department. So back through the big white swinging doors he went while the children and I amused ourselves with kitchen gadgets and pretty party plates.

Sunshine had the eagle eyes today. She tapped my arm and said, "Mom. They're over there." but my mind was heavy from the fatigue of the chase and I only responded "Huh?" So she pointed and my eyes slowly followed the line of her arm until I saw the stand alone frame displaying the complete assortment of precious teas standing... wait for it... right next to the big white swinging doors. That's right. The same doors both men had gone in and out of to try to help me. Nestled right in between the big white swinging doors and the butt roast were my teas. Why? Do people like to drink tea while they are braising short ribs? Mmmmmmm, nothing beats a nice hot cup of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride while trimming the fat off the brisket. Dee-lish!